The lesser-known shroud of Christ's face

At Easter, the Paschal mystery focuses on the astonishing scene at Jesus’ sepulcher: “When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth (sudarium) that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place” (John 20:6-7).

Curiously, the Evangelist mentions that there were two separate cloths in the tomb. Jesus’ burial cloth is believed to be the Shroud of Turin, a long, rectangular linen with the unmistakable imprint of a man, but could it be that the sudarium is the small, bloodstained cloth kept in Oviedo, Spain?

The Shroud of Turin’s remarkable image, believed to be a sign of Jesus’ Resurrection, has garnered the intense interest of scientists for decades. In spite of overwhelming evidence of authenticity, carbon dating tests in 1988 assigned a date between 1260 and 1390. These results, now discredited, had a fortuitous outcome.

Separate burial covering for Christ’s head

That same year, the Spanish Center for Sindonology (C.E.S.) received ecclesiastical permission to examine the relic in Oviedo known as the “Sudarium of the Lord.” In order to disprove the carbon dating results, CES sought to determine that both the Turin Shroud and the Sudarium of Oviedo covered the same crucifixion victim, Jesus.

The Sudarium of Oviedo is a small, rectangular linen, about 34 by 21 inches. It is dirty, stained, and wrinkled, bearing bloodstains that conform to a human head. The name sudarium, from the Latin word for sweat (sudor), referred to aprons, towels, napkins, handkerchiefs, and turbans. This type of cloth had no material value.

Dr. Villalaín Blanco, a Spanish forensic pathologist, first sought to determine the nature of the bloodstains and how they were formed. He found that the cloth was folded back on itself, because it could not completely wrap the head, due to the raised position of the right arm. The stains penetrated the second layer, leaving a mirror image.

The central stains are composed of blood and pulmonary serum (1:6)*, characteristic of crucifixion victims, that flowed from the nose and mouth after death. They were formed with the body in a vertical position for one hour, with the right arm raised, and the head inclined 70 degrees forward and 20 degrees to the right.

The stain above them was formed by gravity after the body had been removed from the cross.

The areas of vital blood present on the head, shoulders, and back indicate that this person was first scourged and then crucified.

The cloth was eventually unfolded and wrapped around the entire head. It was knotted toward the upper back of the head, confirmed in a 5th-century paraphrase of John 20. After being moved, the body was positioned face up. The cloth was removed from the head, still knotted, and covered with aloe and myrrh before being set apart in the tomb.

On the move since 7th century

Ancient documents relate that the Sudarium was safeguarded in Jerusalem until the Persian invasion of 614 A.D. The Christians fled to Spain with a chest filled with relics, stopping briefly in Alexandria, Egypt. The chest remained in Seville during the time of Saint Isidore, and was transferred to Toledo after his death in 636 A.D.

When the Muslims invaded Spain in 711 A.D., they quickly conquered Toledo, so the Christians absconded to the north with their relics. The Holy Chest was hidden on a mountaintop near Oviedo for 50 years. The relics were then transferred to a monastery in Oviedo until King Alphonsus II built the Holy Chamber in the year 812 A.D., now part of the Cathedral.

Scientific congruency

Comparative studies reveal that both the Sudarium and the Shroud covered a man with blood type AB, with wounds likely from a crown of thorns. This man was crucified and suffered acute pulmonary edema. Both linens wrapped a body still bent from the posture of crucifixion.

On both linens, the nose is eight centimeters long, with a swelling on the right and evidence of pressure to contain the loss of blood. The right cheek shows evidence of a bruise. There are similar flows of blood along the beard from post-mortem pulmonary edema. Both contain the remains of aloe and myrrh, as well as pollens from plants that grow in the vicinity of Jerusalem.

The original Greek reveals the significance of John 20:6-7. When John and Peter first arrived at the tomb, they found the shroud lying there, “collapsed” on the shelf of the sepulcher, still unwrapped. The sudarium was lying nearby, still knotted and stiff from aloe and myrrh. This is what led John and Peter to believe in the Resurrection.

Although investigations are ongoing, the Spanish Center for Sindonology concludes that all evidence supports the belief that the Sudarium of Oviedo is a testimony of Jesus’ passion and death, while the Turin Shroud’s still-inexplicable image proclaims his Resurrection. Science has cast new light on these pivotal events of Christianity, bringing them to life in a way that has a profound impact on the faithful.

JANICE BENNETT is the author of Sacred Blood, Sacred Image: New Evidence for the Authenticity of the Shroud of Turin and Saint Laurence & The Holy Grail: The Story of the Holy Chalice of Valencia (both published by Ignatius Press).